As one of those fortunate enough to avoid any of Hurricane Sandy’s destruction, we knew we wanted to contribute in a hands on way and Operation Surfinbird’s Thanksgiving mission in the Rockaways was the ideal way to help. Shannon Sinclair, one of the main volunteers, gave MDC the lowdown on the big event:

Eli Metcalf and his wife Tamara Mcnaughton, spearheaded Operation Surfinbird (it’s really their brain child) and enlisted a host of their friends Nico Kern, Anna Bauer, Kristi Matamoros, Kathryn Typaldos, Anthony Conti from DKNY, Lisa Weatherby from The Collective Shift and our token non-fashion friend, economist Alvise Marino. Amy Sacco from No 8 enrolled Cipriani’s to do all of the cooking, National Grid donated 250 turkeys (85 we cooked for our event, and the remainder we donated directly to families in need for their Thanksgiving at home in the Rockaways).

We had a charity fundraiser before the event, which raised almost $30,000, hosted by Alana Zimmer, Jacquelyn Jablonski, Sara Blomqvist, Erin O’Connor, and Patricia Fields, with music by Andrew from MGMT, Taka from Gang Gang Dance, Tan Lines and Das Racist. We had over 100 volunteers on the day including models like Alana, Hanne Gaby Odiele, Freja Beha Erichsen, Sheila Marquez, Christian Brylle and Amy Hixson. We ended up feeding over 500 people on the day at St Mary of the Sea Church, gave over 150 meals for home deliveries, for people who had disabilities, or were homebound. We also fed a Rockaway adults home.